Reopened Wounds
by angie9281
Summary: Awakened by a disturbing memory of his past, Eric finds himself revealing to Sookie the worst memory he has carried with him after a thousand years and reveals the struggles he still carries after the night Russell Edgington changed his life forever.


**Author's note-I want to thank all those who read and review, though I am not as talented as most of the other writers on here. I am considering stopping writing stories here unless I can get my number of reviews up on this and my previous stories so if you have time to help me up I would be grateful! Thank you so much!**

 **Chapter 1**

Dreams came few and far between for him. Usually once he was dead to the world, that was it. He'd become nothing more than a dead log until night began to come. Or if a emergency came up, he usually could be awoken. This time, it was the flashes he saw in his mind that had brought him from his day rest and having spent the night in the cubby he had installed what seemed like ages ago, he was glad she had spent the night there too. Their bedroom in the yellow farmhouse was already made light tight but every now and again, they preferred to rest here. It was about 10 in the morning on a Thursday when he started to wake, a air of distress about him that had woken him up with a start.

"What is it?" Sookie said with a yawn, having needed a nap after the twelve hour shift at Bellefleur's she had done the day before. She didn't like sleeping down here very often, feeling somewhat claustrophobic. But when she had finally come home from work, she had found him down here, reading one of his many books he had stashed. Most of them about old Nordic tales and the like. Scandinavian history. He usually seemed so cool, collected most of the time but this time, something was definitely playing on his mind. "Did you…have a bad dream? You've had those before, I know."

While he admitted that was true, he also felt troubled about this one. "This one…..was different. With how long I have lived, the journeys I have taken….why I never dreamed like this until now is a unsettling feeling."

"Maybe I had something to do with it, me having helped unlock the caring side of you." she replied, trying to lighten the mood. But it wasn't working. He looked uncharacteristically…..sad.

"I saw it happen all over again. The massacre." he said, getting ever so slightly choked up.

Sookie only needed a second to process what he meant. "Oh….Eric….you know that wasn't your fault. And if there was anything I could do to take the pain away or to bring them back-"

"I thought destroying those wolves and Edgington would bring me peace. And it did for awhile. But lately, after everything that's happened…Godric had come to me warning me that Russell's death would bring me no peace and I was stubborn and continued to dump cement into him in that hole. Then he was broken out and your kin were then in danger. Then I finally killed him…"

"You miss your family." Sookie interjected. "You rarely have talked to even me about them why don't you talk about them now, maybe it can help…maybe we can do something to honor their memory. I know when Gran died I felt a little better planting the memory garden out in back. A place to reflect, mourn and celebrate life. But we don't have to talk about them, if we don't want to."

Eric sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head back to look up at the ceiling. "I never even talked to Pam much about my human family, she didn't know of their demise until you did when we dealt with the wolves some time back. Perhaps talking of them would help…"

 **Chapter 2**

"My father's name was Wulf and my mother was Astrid. Father was well trained in arms and fighting and even my mother was trained with a bow and arrow, with the occasional use of a knife. She was not helpless and looking back, there is some similarities between you and her. Stubborn. Refusing to cow down to a enemy…..I could go on. They would have liked you a great deal I believe."

Sookie held his hand gently, knowing this had to be painful for him to talk about. Even all this time together this was the most she had really heard of his family and she was patiently waiting to lean more. "What about your dad?"

Eric laughed. "I took after him in many ways…..courageous, brave, eager for a good fight…..but he was ready and willing to inherit the throne when his time came. I was…immature. Chasing after every woman in our lands was my priority, not ruling our kingdom. Keeping our people safe and I believe if I had cared just a bit more, perhaps no one would have been killed that night. That I could have kept watch when whispers if trouble began seeping into the small castle we had. Instead, I was in a little room with a maiden when the wolves attacked, I remember seeing…seeing the sight when I rushed from the room and saw the blood, the battle raging between the wolves and knights. Looking back it was clear the wolves were on vampire blood with how strong I was. And in the open doorway, Edgington taunted me, told me not to be a hero and I let him and the wolves get away with my father's crown. I may have gotten the crown back, but I would give it up if it meant having them back."

Tears were falling down her cheeks, slightly blood tinged with her own mixed vampire and fae blood. "You shouldn't blame yourself-"

He shot off the bed and proceeded to shatter the second bookshelf mounted on the wall with a angry swipe of his fist. "The body of my infant sister….she never had a chance…..she was barely days old and I….." he froze in place and looked down at the floor, the scattered books all over the place. "Because of me, they died and I suppose no matter how cold I have been over the years, I have never gotten over it, never properly mourned. The blood of my parents and baby sister will never wash off of me, no matter how long my life continues. The little one was to be named Elin. I held her that night everyone was slaughtered, not knowing it would be the last time she would be alive….."

Her heart ached for him. "I know you must have loved your family a great deal and nothing could have prepared you for what happened that night. You were human at the time and there's no way you could have fought them without joining then in death. Maybe you were spared for a reason. To become what you have. It maybe was destiny because if you'd been killed, you and I never would have met." You've lived a busy, eventful life…I am so sorry for you….I shouldn't have tried to make you spill everything, I feel like I have only helped reopen old wounds. For what it is worth, I think you would have been a incredible king. And you still have a throne….. at Fangtasia" Sookie was trying to cheer him up in a situation that she knew was uncomfortable for him.

"You always find the silver lining in a shit storm. I love that about you, you know." he replied with a small smile. "These wounds never have and never will fully heal." he returned to the bed and sat on the foot of it, Sookie taking a spot beside him. "My parents were brave and I feel like in the end I let them down for my poor priorities. I never even had the chance to try to be king. Everyone else was slaughtered. I remember going out of the palace, soon after the wolves departed and saw the blood and torn up bodies everywhere. Homes were alight and those who did survive, I couldn't save and so I took my sword and put them out of their misery. I soon found myself taken in by another clan and that lasted mere weeks. But I had proved myself a fierce and loyal warrior but at a price. That very night, my men were killed and I was turned by Godric. I promised myself as I felt my life slip away that if someday I should somehow gain another family or gain someone important in my life, that I would protect them to the best of my ability."

There was a silence as he finished speaking and Sookie squeezed his hand. "Your parents, they would have been proud of you. To see what you have become and what you've done. Granted, you've done bad things too but no one is a angel or a saint. You are…well, Eric."

 **Chapter 3**

They sat in silence and he ignored the bleeds as they started. "You should try to get some rest." Sookie suggested gently as she took a Kleenex and wiped his ears and nose. Retreating up the ladder, she returned with a warm cloth which would work better with the amount of blood coming from him. Helping him lay down, a idea was forming in her mind and she smiled, knowing she could get it done before he arose later. Lying beside him, she was taken aback by the sounds she heard coming from him, having only heard it once before when Godric was preparing to meet the sun. he was sobbing.. "You aren't alone anymore, you do have family…..a large one. You do not have to carry all this pain alone after all these centuries. Let it all out, you will feel better, I promise." she stroked his hair gently, as he often did to her and though he still shook from the grief being released, he was clearly still trying to be the Eric he was so used to being. The aloof, strong, imposing one that she had first met in Fangtasia so long ago. Finally, he let his guard down and just allowed her to take him into her arms and she soon felt him as he once more entered his day rest, out like a light. To think of the things she still didn't know of his past, the other pain and suffering he had gone through over the centuries, it amazed and upset her to know that in all that time, the original grief had been with him all that time. It was time to help him finally get some added closure.

After several phone calls and the promise of hefty bonuses, for a rush job, the last of the trucks pulled out of the driveway as he awoke from his much needed rest.

"Sookie?" he called for her as he emerged from the cubby, only to find candles lit all over the house and the calming scent of lavender filling the air. Petals of roses and lilac were strewn not up to their bedroom but out the front door. Curious, he walked out of the house, barefoot and wearing only tracksuit pants. He followed the petals to where the memorial garden to Gran was. However, he smelled there was something new, something freshly dug and added . A soft light was revealed to be a candle and there, he saw a simple stone etched with the names of Eric's parents and little Elin. Surrounding the grave were freshly planted lilies and tulips with baby's breath added for good measure. Honeysuckle completed the beauty that was the grave and a grateful and touched Eric went to a knee in a show or respect to his long lost kin.

"Sookie…..this is….it's perfect. and right beside your grandmother I see. I wish I had gotten to meet her, though I am not certain if she would have liked me."

"Like I once told Bill, she had a fondness for cute men. She would have liked you for your personality too I think and your devotion to your family." she took him by the hand as they sat on the ground before the graves. "I can say a little prayer if you want me to…I know you're not exactly the religious type but….."

"No, please. If you don't mind."

Nodding, Sookie recited the Lord's Prayer, the first one that came to mind, hoping the words could be comforting in some way to him. Meanwhile another thought came to him, one that was out of the blue yet strange at the same time. He was the last Viking on Earth. As far as he knew.

 _ **The End**_

 **To be followed up in my next story entitled** _ **The Last Viking.**_


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